Unit 7 Non-State Actors

Structured Anarchy

• Review State System – Sovereign States in Anarchy

• States are not the only actors• Difference between anarchy and chaos

– Can have stable, structured anarchy– IGOS and NGOs can help order anarchy,

promote cooperation

• Increasing importance of IGOs, NGOs, and MNCs.

Rise of non-state actors

• Globalization as key– Declining cost of transportation– Increase in speed and accuracy of information

exchange – transparent interactions– Increase in capital fluidity, exchange– Decrease in tariff and non-tariff barriers

• These forces combine to – reduce transaction costs– increase interaction and interdependence– increase size and scale of operations

Intergovernmental Organizations(IGO)

• States are members

• Why would states voluntarily give up sovereignty to an IGO?– Security - Force multiplier– Cooperation - Achieve Collective goods– Economic Rewards – Aid and reduced tariffs– Political Influence – A seat at the table

• Examples: UN, NATO, WTO, NAFTA

United Nations

• History of the UN– League of Nations – Atlantic Charter– San Francisco and Bretton Woods

• Purposes of the UN– Forum– Bureaucracy– Promote global security– Assist development

United Nations

• Structure– Secretariat– General Assembly– ECOSOC, Committees, UNEP, ICJ– Security Council

• Examples– Security Council, the IAEA and Iran– CSW and CEDAW– WHO and Avian Flu

Non-Governmental Organizations(NGO)

• Civil society – A different source of legitimacy than states

• Differing motives– Partners with states to provide services– Competitors with states – own agendas

• Examples– Red Cross– Greenpeace

• Terrorists – Is Al Queda an NGO?

Multi-National Corporations(MNC, TNC)

• Think of the MNCs as for-profit NGOs

• Extended penetration into global markets– Decrease costs of goods– Increase access to goods– Harm local producers– Threaten local culture

• MNCs as partners and competitors to states, the issue of relative power